


Falling

by elysianrogue (l_ecrivain)



Series: Camp Brightmoon Universe [2]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Childhood Friends, Childhood Memories, I have too many thoughts and ideas so I'm making it a series, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, but they love each other - Freeform, kind of like lore, or spin-offs, part of Camp Brightmoon, they're Small
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-09 17:40:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27770155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/l_ecrivain/pseuds/elysianrogue
Summary: The house might be old and the people in it might suck, but at least they have each other.ORA peek into Catra and Adora's lives before Adora left.***part of the first fic in this series, Camp Brightmoon, but can be read separately just fine
Relationships: Adora & Catra (She-Ra)
Series: Camp Brightmoon Universe [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2031505
Comments: 6
Kudos: 17





	Falling

**Author's Note:**

> This has been sitting in my drive for ages and I actually really like it so I wanted to share.

The midafternoon sun was shining brightly. The late September air was still quite warm and Adora had found herself stripping off her sweater as she walked home from school. She shoved it into her bag and zipped it back up as she bounded up the steps into the house she had called home for nearly fourteen years.

The house was old. Honestly, it almost looked decrepit sometimes. Catra always said that it was fitting to the old hag who owned it. Adora just punched her in the arm and told her to be careful what she says in the house. It was when they were pulling weeds earlier that summer.

The property was one of the largest on the street. It stretched a whole block compared to the other houses which had two or three a block. The house itself was wide and two stories tall. It was mostly made of wood with bits of stone here and there. Chunks of wood were rotting and crumbling. It was covered in windows but most of them were shuttered, curtains blocking anyone from looking into the house. The lawn was manicured and clean, a stark contrast to the crumbling parts of the large house. 

The kids in the house were probably the only reason the house wasn’t falling apart. The amount of yard and housework they had to do probably wasn’t normal or okay, but nobody was going to say anything anytime soon. It was better than bouncing between homes their whole lives. 

The front screen door slammed shut behind her as she entered. She winced, hoping it wouldn’t attract any attention. She kneeled to start untying her shoes, her bag sliding down her arm from her shoulder.

She’d wished too soon.

She was just about to stand and kick both her shoes off when someone appeared before her. She would’ve jumped had she not been used to the older woman’s abrupt entrances. It was almost like she melted into the room from the shadows. Still, she held back a shudder as she rose and came eye-to-eye with her foster mother.

“Adora,” the woman said in a voice that dripped with mock warmth. “You’re late.”

Adora swallowed. “Practise ran late, Ms. Weaver.”

“I see,” said Ms. Weaver. She looked sternly at the blonde girl in front of her. “You will call next time?”

Adora found herself nodding rapidly. “Of course. Wouldn’t want to worry you.” She cringed as her voice cracked on the last few words.

With her gaze drilling Adora into the hardwood floor, Ms. Weaver nodded sharply. “No, we wouldn’t want that.”

There was a warning in her tone that had Adora stuck in place until she had turned and headed into the kitchen. Adora released the breath she had been holding, kicked off her shoes, and practically ran upstairs, careful not to stomp.

Adora dropped her bag on the ground of her bedroom with a tired sigh. She closed the door quietly behind her (so as not to invoke Ms. Weaver’s wrath once more) and stepped further into the room she shared with Catra.

Exhaustion weighed on her from that day’s practice. Football. And volleyball afterwards. She rubbed a hand down her face, almost trying to rub the tired feeling away.  _ Too much to do. _ She stretched as she walked towards her desk. Would she ever  _ not _ be stiff?

Her gaze trailed over the stack of papers and textbooks scattered on her desk. She groaned. Homework was… probably a good idea. All she wanted to do was curl up in a ball and sleep. But that wasn’t an option. That wasn’t good enough. Not for Ms. Weaver.

Nothing ever was.

She bit her lip, finally assessing the rest of the room. It wasn’t a big room. There was a large window on the wall across from the door. In front of the window sat her desk. It was supposed to be for both of them, but Catra never used it. The mess was purely from how busy Adora had been since school started. She’d have to clean it before Ms. Weaver noticed.

On the wall to the left of the desk was their bed. It was a wooden bunk bed. Each bed had standard sheets and one comforter and one pillow. You wouldn’t have been able to tell whose bed was whose if it weren’t for the calendar hanging above Adora’s and the doodles on the wall above Catra’s. Doodles that had gotten her yelled at a number of times, but she had yet to stop.

Other than a matching wooden dresser and a closet scarcely filled, the room was pretty much empty. Neither of the girls had very much stuff and so the room stayed very minimalistic. Catra had less than Adora purely because of her lack of activities. Adora was always busy. 

The room seemed void of other people at the moment which left Adora confused. Where had Catra got off to after class? She racked her brain. Did Catra even go to class? She frowned. Ms. Weaver would’ve said something if she didn’t know where the other girl was, right?

Two weeks into their freshmen year and Catra was already skipping out on classes and missing assignments. She’d warned her time and time again that behaviour like that wasn’t going to fly with Ms. Weaver. Catra didn’t listen. But, she supposed, when did she ever?

Adora yanked off her headphones and tossed them onto her bed. The bottom bunk. The top bunk stirred and she heard someone breathe shakily.

“Catra, where were you today?” began Adora, heading for the ladder. “You know Weaver hears about you cutting class, right? You’re gonna get in so much-”

She stopped short when she had climbed partway up the ladder and came face to face with Catra. The smaller girl’s face was flushed and her blue and gold eyes shined with angry tears. “Go away, Adora.”

“No way,” she insisted, perching on the end of the bed. “What happened?” Her eyes widened. “Did-did Weaver do something to you? Again?”

Adora’s brow knit together with concern while she waited for Catra to answer. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time something had happened. Or the first time the other girl had hidden it from her. Although, the latter was a more recent development. 

The other girl rolled over, back to Adora. “ _ No _ . Just-” she took a deep breath. “Just leave it alone, Adora.”

“Not until you tell me what’s wrong.”

“Nothing’s wrong!”

Adora scoffed. “Come on, Catra. It can’t be  _ that _ bad. Nothing we haven’t gotten through. Together. Come on, tell me!”

Catra rolled onto her back, shoving the heels of her palms onto her eyes until she saw stars. She needed Adora to go away before she said something stupid. She didn’t need Adora to… well,  _ be Adora _ . “Adora…” she said, groaning.  _ Go away go away go away. _

“Catra…” said Adora in the same tone.

Catra bit back an irritated sound, huffing sharply instead. “Go do your homework!”

“Talk to me!”

“It’s stupid.”

“You’re already being stupid, it can’t be that bad.”

“Well, now I’m not telling you.”

“I was kidding!”

Catra hid in her pillow, face flushing even more, blue and gold barely peeking over the edge of the white fabric. 

Adora huffed and climbed up into the bunk, yanking on Catra’s arm. Catra could be heard giggling as she shoved her face further into the pillow. Adora laughed and pulled the other girl up. Catra pretended to struggle before pushing forward. Adora tumbled back barely catching herself on the edge of the bed.

Catra leaned forward, pushing her face right up to Adora’s with a smug grin. Adora flushed this time, cheeks burning. Catra stuck her tongue out, her mismatched eyes shining brightly. Adora laughed so hard she forgot she was holding onto the edge so she  _ didn’t _ fall off the bed.

Instead, she fell.

Catra burst out laughing as she groaned. The brunette girl peeked her head over the edge of the top bunk. “Are you okay?”

Adora shot her an awkward thumbs up and slumped further onto the ground, giggling.

“What was that noise?” they heard a voice shout from downstairs.

The stairs creaked and they looked at each other, eye wide. Adora scrambled to stand and grab a pile of textbooks. She carefully spread them across the floor, attempting to make them appear haphazard.

They shared one last look before the door slammed open. The tall woman stood in the doorway, her dark hair framing her face which held a menacing expression.  _ Weaver. _ She shot Adora a stern look. “What is going on here?”

Adora straightened from pretending to pick up her books. “Ms. Weaver! Uh, nothing. I just dropped my textbooks. It won’t happen again.”

Ma. Weaver narrowed her eyes at Adora. Her gaze darted to Catra who was busy trying to make herself as small as possible. Adora didn’t dare look back at the other girl, but had a feeling she was shaking just as much as Adora’s heart was racing.

“I won’t have such loud,” she looked meaningfully at Catra, “ _ disturbances _ in my household. Do be more careful.”

Adora nodded. “Yes, of course, Ms. Weaver.”

After one last glance around the small bedroom, Ms. Weaver turned and headed back downstairs. When they heard the final creak of the stairs, Adora closed the door as quietly as possible. She pressed her back against the door and let out a sigh.

“That was close.”

Catra burst out laughing again. Adora looked at her with surprise before a small smile broke across her face. Soon, she was laughing too. Catra leaned down and pulled Adora back up into the top bunk. The blonde could see the anxiety etched into the lines on Catra’s face and the way she hunched her shoulders even as they continued to giggle. 

Adora watched the other girl warmly. Catra’s eyes were closed as she giggled. When she opened them, she shoved Adora’s shoulder. “What?”

With a laugh, the blonde said, “Nothing.” Catra shot her a strange look but didn’t push further. She started talking again, the words mixed in with her giggles.

Adora grinned. She’d figure out what was wrong later. Catra was laughing and that was all that mattered.


End file.
